The Wild Life
by Dear Mother War
Summary: She was a wild tiger, raised by a Tribe of humans in the arctic she learned their ways and how to survive in the harsh climate by hunting. When she gets taken and sold in America, she discovers a tiger isn't her only form. Will she be able to survive human life or High School? Sky High
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I hope you like this story so far :)**

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_"OHH AH WAY UH! OH HAH WAY HUH!" The throaty yell of voices, the low pound of a drum and feet stomping the earth was heard through the forest. __The tribe was dancing in a circle around the large fire, each singing, dancing and laughing. The bright white stars where spread out across the dark sky, the full moon emanating light across the snow. _

_"YAHA WATA!" They yelled in unison, the dancers were beautifully mimicking animals in the forest. __A woman with thick black hair in a long braid had wings made of leaves and fur, dancing around like an eagle in the sky. A child was dressed in wolf fur and was howling to the moon._

_"TONIGHT!" An old man with long, graying black hair yelled. "We dance! For the LIGHTS!" He howled, dancing in a circle._

_Suddenly the darkness of the night became clearer, the sky brightened. A wave of bright colors weaved and slithered gracefully through the sky. S__now slowly started to fall from the few clouds that littered the night sky, the tribe cheered excitedly. Only to be cut off by a mechanical humming sound from above._

_They looked up to see an old style airplane flying through the lights. It's wings were painted red and the body of it white. On the side was a picture of a clown and the words 'Russian Circus'. Though they could not read, they knew it was something else. Some sort of people from another land, they called it the 'Metal Bird'. _

_Something dropped out the plane and was hurtling towards the ground as the flying metal contraption went out of sight. __The object hit the ground a few yards away and rolled down a small hill. They looked at each other unsure of what to do, the chief finally spoke up._

_"I shall look," he said grabbing his spears and cautiously walking over, he readied his weapon and positioned himself to strike when he neared the object._

_It was a small wooden crate, slightly damaged from the fall but not too much since the plane wasn't too far from the ground. The side of the box and Cotton Candy written on it in both Russian and English. There were a few noises coming from inside the box._

_The tribe of people jumped back at the noise, the Chief tapped the box lightly with his spear and the noise started again. __It almost sounded like a whimper or a growl. He pushed the box over and it opened, they stood there for a moment wondering what would happen next. They could hear rustling on the inside of the box and then another whimper, they kneeled down to see what would walk out._

_Almost all of them awed when the small black striped, white cat exited the crate. It was adorable and something they've never seen before, a whole new species of animal to them. _

_The Chief leaned down and pulled something fluffy and pink off of the animal, he held it to his nose and sniffed it. The others looked at him with wide eyes, confusion on their faces. What was the creäture standing before them? The Chief slipped the pink fur into his mouth and his eyes widened, to others it was known as cotton candy, to them it was something entirely new._

_He picked up the blue-eyed cub and smiled, he turned to look at the tribe while holding the baby cat up._

_"Quanok!" (Snowflake) "White cat, fall from sky! Big snowflake!" He said then took off another piece of cotton candy. "Sakari!" (Sweet) He added, taking about the pink fluff._

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**(16 years later)**

The snow was always her favorite thing, she would watch it fall for hours. The moonlight hitting her furry face, it was heaven. She would chase caribou all day and then relax under the sunlight on the mountain. The Arctic air was cold and fresh, but her thick fur coat kept her warm inside.

She crouched down behind a small hill of snow, her prey the hare on the other side. It was small yes, not enough to fill the massive beast, but for her amusement. She wiggled her rear end and readied herself, her ears back and her head down. With a huge leap she flew towards the small creature.

Only to hit something and become pushed back, the hare took off. She looked down at the object holding her back. A thick stick of wood, she ran her ice blue eyes up the annoying stick to see a sweet looking old lady attached to it. The Eskimo woman, older than the land itself, her olive skin wrinkled, her long braided pigtails we a white/grey color. She wore layers of clothes, her thick hood of fur up to keep her head warm.

A smile was plastered on her face, the tigress sighed when the lady laughed. "Now Child, you know not to play with your food." Tootega said looking down at the large white tiger. She growled lightly and stood, noticing the small wolf following behind the old lady. "Now, come young one. We see the tribe today." She said turning and walking through the snow and into the woods.

The large Siberian tiger followed the old Eskimo as the walked through the forest for about a half hour, finally entering the native grounds. The kids were playing around and laughing, there was a few women chatting as they hung up clothes. Most of the men were out hunting, fishing or building.

"Rawr!" A toddler said as he came up to the tiger, his chubby cheeks flustered pink in the cold weather. He wrapped his arms around the large cats leg and hugged her. Sakari nudged him with her nose and rubbed her head against the boy, he giggled when she pushed him up and onto her back. She was a large tiger, her head standing almost 5 feet tall, her body was massive in both length and size.

The boy pulled at the small mane around her neck, the cat winced as she walked alongside the old lady, who just laughed at her. She noticed a woman sitting in front of her tee pee and skinning a caribou she caught earlier, dipping it in salted water to keep the meat from going bad.

"They are thankful you caught the food for them, it is hard for us to hunt without you. They call you the Goddess of Hunting and protection, they say you are Nujalik." Tootega said as they walked, another group of children ran up to pet Sakari, the little boy getting off of his horsie.

A mother called to her children in their native tongue and they ran off to her, leaving the old lady and the large tiger alone to walk. "You see child, you understand us because we are one the same. Brothers and sisters, a family." The old lady said as they started to walk up the mountain. Sakari had no idea what the old bat was going on about this time, something about the lights and spirits.

With a thunk the Tootega hit her on the head with her walking stick, the tiger growled at the old lady.

"You listen!" Tootega said sternly. "You are here because the great Spirits of the sky gave us hope, for food and protection." She started, Sakari rolled her eyes and watched a squirrel run up a tree. The old lady was constantly going on about Spirits and how she was there to protect the tribe, it was true. When Sakari was with them every once in a while, but she was always looking out for them and watching over them. She would bring them meat and fish for food, then she would watch the children when the mothers were busy.

"One day you will understand what I am saying," She explained as they walked around the top of the mountain, there was a large clearing there and you could see the land below, the village and the river behind it. The sun was shining down and Sakari couldn't help but notice how beautiful it was. "You me child, are cat by body and spirit but your heart is one of a human." Tootega said smiling lovingly at the large beast, Sakari couldn't even count how many times Tootega explained that same thing to her. She was a big cat, she knew it. The only other cat around was a Mountain Lion and still she was twice the size of it, the lion still tried to attack a family so it had to be chased off by the tiger.

"You're time is coming young one, you will have a great decision to make and a bigger adventure ahead." Tootega said while patting her on the head, Sakari looked down at the village, everyone as having a good time. She turned to look at Tootega but there was no one there, not a soul, not even her scent or a sound. Sakari had no idea where the old lady went and didn't bother questioning it. She was the medicine lady and was supposedly mystical, Sakari just thought she was crazy from her old age.

"AHHH!" Her head snapped down towards the village after hearing the screech, there was a thick smoke clouding the campsite. Sakari could smell others, she could hear the footsteps and yells from foreign voices. In a flash she went speeding down the mountain, jumping high over rocks and logs, speeding past a small group of coyotes that were running away from the noise. She was so worried, were they hurting her people? She was the Spirit sent to protect them, how could she do it now when she wasn't even there. She mentally cursed the old lady from taking her so far away.

The tigress leapt over a brook and finally stepped into the campsite, she could hear muffled screams coming from her people and the foreign language being spoken by the strangers. There were so many of them, each holding long objects and sharp-looking sticks. She jumped up behind one of the men and sunk her long teeth into his neck, his blood trailing down her chin. All the men turned to look at her, wide-eyed and shocked.

"Sakari Quanok!" A woman yelled from the grasp of a strong-looking man.

Sakari held in a deep breath and opened her mouth wide, her 4 inch long fangs and strong looking jaw glistened with blood. She let out the breath from her belly and roared loudly, the sound echoing through the forest for miles. Loud enough to scare away some birds yards away.

"Look at that," The man said in a British accent. "What is a Siberian tiger doing here?" He asked his men as they let the people go, the white tiger was positioned in a fighting stance, showing her teeth.

"Imagine what she'll be worth in America, Smitty." One man said with an evil smile.

"Nujalik!" The Chief growled, his air being cut off by a man holding his throat.

"Oh is she your Goddess? Pity, we think she'd make a beautiful fur coat." The man named Smitty said, showing his dirty teeth through a nasty smile. Smitty was a dirty looking man, his greasy black hair covered in a big snow suit and a hat. his mustache almost covered his mouth, he was missing a few teeth and the ones he did have were an ugly yellow/brown color.

Sakari ran at the man and knocked him over, gun shots were fired and there was yelling. She didn't manage the kill him but jumped up and ran at another man, who pointed a gun at her, she jumped and bit his throat. He dropped to the ground and she started picking them off one by one.

"Get it!" Smitty yelled as Sakari started running away, not so fast they'd lose her but enough so they'd leave the campsite. She ran past the brook and through the forest, she could hear them shuffle after her. Loud bangs indicated that shots were fired and things were thrown at her, she stopped when she was far enough away from the tribe and turned to face them. They stopped and fired their guns at her, she let out another vicious roar and they seemed taken aback by the loud noise.

One man shot at her and hit her in the shoulder with a bullet, she winced and pulled back slightly. It hurt her but wasn't enough to stop the large Siberian. She jumped at the man and knocked him over, she bit into the soft part on his neck, six more to go and she knew she could do it. There was blood dripping down her shoulder and chin, her white coat getting soaked in pink and crimson. She jumped at another but stumbled as a bullet pierced her back, her coat was thick but not enough to stop the bullet from going far into her body. She was getting weaker, so she jumped up and pushed herself off of a thick tree and onto another man. She was doing fine until something hard hit her over the head, it was a big club made of wood and painted black.

Her vision was getting worse and she was loosing her balance, they started gaining up on her. Hitting her in different spots, she managed to jump on a man and then on another, using them like stepping stones.

"This tiger is a beast," Smitty said as he pulled out his machete. "Ey! Stop, leave her!" He added, they stopped and looked between Sakari and Smitty. The over-sized tiger and the man stood there facing each other, deadly looks on both their faces, blood covering the white tiger.

"She's mine," He growled, put on a lopsided grin and raised an eyebrow at the cat, she snarled and showed her large teeth before running at the man, she leapt into the air about 6 feet before coming down on top of him. She let out a groan and layed still over the man, her 900 pound body crushing him slightly.

"Smitty?" A man with greying black hair asked. The large black striped white Siberian tiger suddenly moved, and Smitty pulled himself out from underneath it, he pulled his machete out of its belly and wiped the blood off on his glove. "Get her back to the truck, we'll take her to the States and see if we can get a nice coat or something made out of it. They'll be paying big bucks for it." He grinned as they all started lifting the large cat.

* * *

She was in pain, pure cruel pain. Her whole body was hurting, it was healing well like usual but sore. She hasn't felt that bad since she had the run in with the herd of Ox. They were pretty vicious when they were angry. Sakari opened her eyes to see darkness, she wasn't sure if she lost her vision or if it was just dark. There was a loud noise and her body was shaking, she had no idea what it was and it was actually a train. She didn't know where she was or where she was going, she couldn't even stand. Her body was just so weak, she just hoped her people were okay.

Sakari looked around the big metal room she was in, there were boxes and cans of things, she didn't know what they were or where she was going but the humans still thought she was dead. She would of too if she wasn't in so much pain. Sakari looked through the crack in the big metal door and peered outside, they were moving quickly. Too quick for her to be able to jump with the state she was in, she knew she had to rest if she wanted to travel back to the tribe.

So she put her head down and went back to sleep, making it look as if she was dead.

When she did awaken, it was because of a loud bangs and the squeaking sound of the train stopping. She rose, her body still shaky and sore but she prepared herself for the worst when the door flew open. Standing there were two men, ready to take her dead body somewhere.

"I thought you said it was dead!" The man with the balding head said to the guy next to him.

"It was! I watched him kill it!" He said defensively as Sakari jumped over the two and ran down onto the hard black ground. She ran, as fast as her paws would let her. Until something poked into her neck, another hit her, then another. She started feeling tired, really tired, she knew she had to stay awake so she kept going.

She would always keep running, no matter what she'd get back and never give up. These people wanted her dead and she wouldn't let them, so she willed herself to go on.

"Hole crap, what is this thing?" She heard a voice as she started to slow down, she wasn't running as fast as she thought she was. Her body was slacking and her eyes drifting shut.

"Its the size of it that's difficult, shoot it again." Another voice said, Sakari felt another sharp pain and hit the ground again. Everything went black.

* * *

This time when she woke up she was just as sore, maybe worse. Her head was pounding, her bones ached and she was thirsty. Her fur was still covered in blood and messy.

She let out a groan from her chest, it didn't sound as loud as it did when she was in the metal thing. No echo, so where was she?

Opening her eyes she got a glimpse of her surroundings, she was sitting on a wooden floor. Thick metal bars trapping her into the small space, there were voices, loud voices all around.

"What did you do to this animal?!" A female voice yelled, she looked to see a woman around 5,5. Her hair was medium length and a strawberry blonde colour, she looked to be in her mid thirties to someone who could notice. She wore a long green cardigan and a white T-shirt that read 'Save The Whales.' She was holding a protesting sign against 'Animal Cruelty'.

"Nothin', we got it like that. It's perfect for our circus." He said with a grin.

"She is a wild animal! You can't just take her from her habitat, beat her and expect the poor thing to put on a show." The woman yelled, she had green eyes and slightly tanned skin.

"No, she won't put on a show, it sits in the cage and people see it." The man eating the hot dog replied, wiping his hands on his shirt.

The man started to walk away and the woman chased him down and yelled more at him from another area, Sakira let out a breath and then yawned. A small roar came from her throat as she did so, she rubbed her face off her paw and licked her lips. She was so hungry, usually she ate at least four or five times a day. Fish or caribou, sometimes moose.

"Yih Yay Yuh Yiahuh!" She heard the native throat singing and turned, it was the old lady. Her back was turned and she sat cross legged in the small cage, her fur hood up and her hands clapping with every word. "Yuh yi yi yuh! Yeeh yuh Hi hi!" Tootega chanted. "You see what I see child?" Tootega asked, turning to face Sakari. "I see an ally. This one is trustable." She added, Sakari wasn't worried about what the crazed old bat was saying this time, she was just worried about the tribe. How would they survive the harsh winters without her?

*clunk*

Tootega hit her over the head again with her stick. "Silly girl, we survive many years without you and we survive them now too." The old lady said as Sakari glared and rubbed her head with her paw. It wasn't like the old lady's advice was any good before, if she had of stayed at the campsite none of this would of happened.

"No! Silly child, everything happens for a reason." She said with a huge smile.

"Hey girl, don't eat me okay? I'm going to get you out of here, I bet you're hungry?" She looked through the cage to see the woman from earlier, she was unlocking the cage. Sakari looked to see if this was the ally, Tootega might of been talking about, but like last time she was gone. Not a trace of the old woman, nothing was there.

"Alright, we need to be discreet. So, ohh wow you're big. Uh, please do not eat me. I will help you. I really hope you don't eat me." The woman said as Sakari shakily exited the cage and onto the ground, her legs hurt so much and so did the rest of her body. "Come on, we need to get in my truck. You're going to have to get in the back." The woman said to the tiger, Sakari couldn't believe she was helping the wild animal and trusting her not to eat her. They ran into the parking lot, luckily there wasn't anyone around and she snuck into the circus area to get a look at the poor animals she would protest for.

"Look, just climb on here." She said to the tiger who stood there staring at the truck, Sakari never seen a car before and it was all so new. These humans were so scary, like demons the tribe would talk about. Could she trust a demon? A bad spirit? Hell, her people thought she was a goddess and she knew she wasn't. She wasn't a spirit or the Huntress, she was just a really big cat, wasn't she?

So she jumped onto the back of the pick up truck, which shifted with the weight of the large tiger and the woman said she was going to cover her with a blanket and then drive away. As they drove Sakari poked her head out of the blanket and seen the city for the first time. It was almost beautiful, the ground was covered in one big black rock like substance. There were big things people were living in and people in big metal cans riding around. It was so interesting and new to her, she never seen anything like it when she lived in the forest.

They drove for hours and finally pulled up into a driveway by a small forest, the house was small but was by a lake and very private. The house was a bungalow and made of mainly wood. The grass was a beautiful shade of green and the trees were high up and covered in leaves, Sakari could hear the birds in the sky and the rabbits running around in the woods. She wished she was home, she wanted to chase a deer like old times.

"Alright, now please don't hurt me. I will feed yu, just don't hurt me." The woman said to the large white tiger, she looked scared and Sakari wanted to just run into the woods and find her way home. She knew she couldn't say no to a free meal though, she was so hungry. "Just follow me," the woman said a little worried with the tiger behind her. She wasn't sure how trained it was or if they just took it from the wild, but it didn't seem like an angry animal so she decided to help it.

They entered the house, something Sakari was never in before, the wood flooring was a dark mahogany color, the walls painted a nice shade of brown and white, the furniture looked very 70's and the carpet in the living room looked old. "This is my parents summer house, it's the closest thing I have to private since I live in the city." The woman said. "and I'm talking to a big tiger I just stole, I am crazy." She said more to herself than to Sakari, who could in fact understand her and was following beside her.

The woman went through the fridge and Sakari just sat there, calmly licking the blood off of her paws. She finally got mainly clean before the woman pulled out a huge chunk of ham, it was the biggest piece of ham she had and hoped it was enough to feed the beast. Sakari'seyes widened and her mouth started to drool, she was so hungry. "I'm not sure if you eat it raw or if I should cook i-.."

Sakari pulled the large piece of meat out of the womans hands and took out into the living room and tried to hide behind the couch, which wasn't big enough to hide the over sized tiger. She started eating the meat with a purring sound in her throat, she was so hungry and thirsty. She seen a lake a yard from the house and wanted to go for a swim, sometimes in the summer when the heat hit you could swim, but it wasn't warm often there.

"YOU STOLE A TIGER!" Sakari's head snapped up when she heard another female voice, she looked towards the front door to see a woman with short red hair and pale skin, she was around 40 and wore a lot of green.

"YES! I know, I just felt bad for it and I knew you could talk to it... So? Will you talk to it?" She asked the red head.

"Karen, why do you do stupid things like this? I have a family to look after, I don't have time for this." The red head said to Karen.

"Come on sis, she was nearly dead when I found her. She was starved, besides she didn't even eat me." Karen tried to defend the animal.

"It might in your sleep!" She said with her hands on her hips.

"Thats why I need you to talk to her and see if she'll kill me." Karen said with a hopeful smile, her sister sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Alright, but if I find out you were eaten by a tiger I get everything you own." The red head smiled, Karen pulled her sister into a hug. "Thank you so much, Lilian." She smiled.

"Now where is it?" Lilian asked looking around, her eyes finally fell onto Sakari and widened them immediately. "That's a really big tiger, where did you say you found it?" She asked.

"The circus, they had him in a small little cage and she looked beaten and bloody." Karen replied.

"That's the biggest tiger I have ever seen," She said cautiously walking up to Sakari. "Hello," she said to it, Sakari turned her head in a confused sort of way at the woman. "What is your name?" She asked her, Sakari didn't answer. "Where did those people find you? Are you from another zoo? Or are you wild?" Lilian asked, she still didn't reply. "Theres something wrong with this animal, she's not normal." Lilian said with furrowed eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" Karen asked. Sakari went back to eating her meat as both of them started talking about how abnormal it was for animals not to talk to Lilian.

"Well she seems like a normal cat to me," Karen said watching Sakari eat the meat and then start eating the bone.

"I honestly don't think it's going to hurt you, because it would have by now, but it still needs to go soon. Take it back to Siberia or something, I mean that is what breed it is maybe they found it there." Lilian said standing up and putting her purse over her shoulder.

"Well should I lock my door when I sleep tonight?" Karen asked as Lilian walked towards the door.

"You really think a door is going to keep that thing out?" Lilian laughed as she left, Karen sighed and looked back a Sakari. "Stay down here tonight, okay?" She said as she walked upstairs, Sakari didn't know what it was but something told her to trust the human. Something made the human trust her too, she'll never figure out what though. She just layed there behind the couch and fell asleep.

* * *

The sun was shining down on her face, it felt so good. All cats loved the sun, it was Sakari's favorite. She would just lay in a tree and the sun would shine down on her and keep her warm. She loved the warmth, it was always so cold and wet but when that one day of summer would hit it was heaven. She opened her ice blue eyes and yawned the way a cat does, she felt so good. She was all healed and she felt clean.

"AHHH!" She heard a scream and bolted upright, her eyes widened and her teeth out readied for an attack. "You're... You're!" She looked over to see Karen at the bottom of the stairs, her vision seemed different. It was so colourful and clear, she could see everything. As a cat, her hearing was better and so was her scent and balance, but her sight wasn't the best unless it was nighttime. Now it was perfect. "Oh my god!" Karen screeched again, not taking her eyes off Sakari.

Sakari looked down at herself, her jaw falling open and her eyes opening wide. She was furless, not only that but she had legs and feet and hands. She held a hand up and inspected it, she turned it over and waved it around, she closed it into a fist and then wiggled her thumb. She felt her face, it was smooth and had no fur. She had a human nose and mouth, she had hair at the tope of her head cascading in wave of white down her naked back. She flipped around to see if her tail was still there and seen nothing but cushions attached to her legs.

"AHHHH!" She screeched for the first time using a human voice, Karen yelled with her, both scared and shocked at what happened. "Holy crap, what.. I thought you were a tiger, are you a super? Oh my, this is wierd. I have to call someone. This... Oh god." Karen started pacing.

Sakari's human form was a beautiful girl, 16 years old with white hair and ice blue eyes like her tiger form. She had one strip of black in the front of her hair going over her eyes, her skin was pale and clear and she was small and thin.

"Tell me what is going on? Are you a super?" She asked the girl as she put a blanket over her naked body. Sakari just stood there looking at her.

"Can you talk?" Karen asked. "Do you speak English? Do you speak at all?" The girl just looked at her. "Have you ever been a human before?"

* * *

**To be continued**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, it really makes my day to know what you think :)**

**TenebrisSagittarius: Thats what I thought when I was writing her, Tootega is actually the Inuit goddess of wisdom and is usually depicted as an old grey haired lady with wolf fur on. So I thought she'd be a great mentor for Sakari. And Yes, Lilian is! I thought using L's for her family would be cute.**

* * *

_**Chapter 2**_

Karen looked at her for a long while, the girl's ice blue eyes just stared back at her. The white haired girl just seemed frightened, she was downright shocked. It was obvious that it never happened before, so why did it happen at all?

Was this girl a Super? Did she have shapeshifting powers she never knew about?

"Alright, okay. This is fine, wheeew." Karen muttered to herself as she started pacing. The girl just stared at her new hands, she wiggled her thumbs and looked at herself with astonishment. "Do you have a name?" Karen asked.

The girl opened her mouth, not sure how to use her voice. She let a few notes escape her throat, testing her new voice box.

"S... Suh... Eh.." She took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on speaking, she remembered what the Inuit tribe called her, Sweet Snowflake.

"Sakari Quanok." She spoke her first words as a human.

"Okay, you talk. You understand me? How old are you?" Karen asked Sakari, who gave her a confused look. She didn't speak, she didn't know English either. "Well, you only look like a teenager, so I'll guess around 16 or 17." She said running a hand through her hair, Sakari mimicked her actions by doing the same.

"T..Tuh...Teenager." She copied the word, her voice was sweet and not too high or low.

"Yes, that's right. You are a teenager." Karen smiled at the girl. "I.. I have to call someone, Lilian will know what to do. Where's my phone?" She asked herself running into the kitchen.

"Fuh...Phone?" Sakari said looking down at her feet and wiggling her toes.

"LIL! You have to get over here. You will not believe this! No, now! I'm serious, this is insane! Alright... Okay, bye." Karen walked back into the living room and looked at Sakari.

"Alright, Sakari. Where are you from?" She tried conversing with the former tiger, who just furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you wild?" She asked, Sakari still didn't say anything. "I am going to go call my boyfriend and let him know why I didn't go home last night, stay right here and don't move." Karen said to the girl as she walked back into the living room.

Sakari looked down at herself, she was so hairless and an odd colour, the people she was used to seeing were a nice tan colour but she had pale skin. She decided to mimic a human by standing, she used her hands to hang onto the couch and put weight on her feet. She stumbled and fell into the couch, how odd to only walk on two legs when you clearly have four.

Sakari gained balance and let go of the couch, she went to take a step and fell onto the floor with a thump. It was harder than she thought. She stood up and tried again, tha blanket still on the floor.

She took a step and smiled when she stayed up, she put her other foot in front of her and stepped again. Sakari let out a noise indicating her excitement and kept walking and went straight into the kitchen.

"Oh sweetie, look let's find you some clothes. You can't be walking around naked all the time." Karen said placing the phone on her shoulder and walking into the living room with the girl. "Stay here." She said but Sakari tried to follow her.

"Stay!" Karen said as if she was talking to a dog, Sakari stood there and didn't move until she returned down the stairs a moment later with an armful of clothes.

"You've probably never worn clothes before, here these are mine." She said handing her the big sweater that read 'Maxville University' and a pair of sweat pants.

Sakari held them and looked back at Karen with confusion on her pretty face. The strawberry blonde smiled and held open the sweater over the girl's head, who stepped back in a defensive position with her white teeth ready to bite. Her teeth looked clean and perfect, her canines a tad longer and sharper looking that the average persons, but hey, she was a tiger.

"I won't hurt you, look. Sweater, goes on like this." Karen said showing her how to put it on herself.

"Sweater?" Sakari asked holding up the fabric and trying to out it on and failing miserably.

"Lemme' help." Karen said putting the sweater on the girl, Sakari looked down at herself and smiled. She seen humans wear clothes before but she never would have expected to be one and wear them.

Karen helped her put on the pants when the door flew open.

"Karen! What could be so wrong? I have to get to Liam's soccer game in an hour and Layla has a date with her boyfriend tonight and I want to take pictures!" Lilian said entering the small cottage. Her eyes widened slightly when she noticed Sakari, she then looked at her sister.

"Who is this?" Lilian said looking at the odd girl.

"Okay, you're never going to believe me but remember that tiger?" Karen started to explain.

"The one you stole," Lilian stated.

"Yeah, that one. Anyway, well she was asleep on the floor this morning and when I woke up..." Karen gestured towards the girl, who just stood there not comprehending a word they were saying.

Lilian just looked between her sister and then the girl. "Honey," she said to the girl. "Are you a super?" She asked, the girl tilted her head the way a dog does when they are confused.

"She can't speak English." Karen said.

"What does she speak then?" Lilian asked.

"She doesn't. I don't think she was ever a human before, I'm starting to think she was born a tiger." Karen explained.

"That's impossible, animals don't have superpowers. I would know, they just don't." Lilian stated, a shocked expression on her face.

"Explain her!" Karen raised her eyebrows.

"Do you have a name?" Lilian ignored her sister and asked the girl.

"Sakari Quanok." The girl replied, remembering the question.

"Seems she knows some English." Lilian said with her hands on her hips. "Sakari... Hmmm... Quanok..." She tried studying the name. "I think that might be Aleut or Inuit or something, what would a Siberian tiger be doing there though?" Lilian asked more herself than her sister.

"Well she was in a cage when I found her, so maybe she was all over the place." Karen suggested.

"We need to get her to a doctor, maybe then we can get some answers." Lilian said grabbing her keys out of her pocket.

"What is the doctor going to do? Take her away and experiment on her!" Karen protested as the activist she was.

"She'll have to go to a SuperHuman Hospital." Lilian replied walking towards the door. "I'm not allowed in there though, I'm not a super." Karen said looking at the floor.

Lilian sighed and gave her sister a one armed hug and a smile. "Well, we just won't tell them that now will we?" Karen grinned at her older sister before she turned to look at Sakari.

"Alright, we're going to see someone who will try to understand what is going on okay. You need to act as human as possible while we drive there okay?" Karen said to her, the girl just gave her a blank look and then glared at the car. "Sakari, this is a car." Karen pointed to the Honda Civic.

"Car." Sakari repeated.

"She's like a parrot." Lilian said as she started the car up and Karen opened the back seat door for the girl.

"Leave her alone, she's learning so well." Karen said as Sakari followed Karen's lead and sat in the vehicle. The white haired girl gripped the seats in the car tightly when Lilian first moved the car, Karen had a cat herself and he didn't like the car much either.

"Sakari?" Lilian asked as she looked at the girl through the rearview mirror. Sakari's head snapped to look at her, waiting for Lilian to speak. "Can you say something for me?" She asked, the girl pondered a response.

"Something for me?"

Karen busted out laughing, which scared the girl causing her to flinch back and grip onto the back of the seat. Karen looked back worriedly, the poor girl was so scared of every little thing, not even scared but more defensive and wary. "Oh no, it's okay. I was just laughing, it's okay. I'm not hurt, a laugh, see?" Karen forced out a nervous chuckle. "You try." She insisted, Sakari looked at her oddly and then opened her mouth trying to let out a laugh, but it came out sounding like a human roar. "Close." Karen murmered as she turned to face the road ahead.

Karen and Lilian fell into conversation but Sakari ignored them, she started staring out the window. She watched the people walk along the streets, each different in their own way and wearing odd clothing she never seen before.

"Isn't this fun?" She heard the all too familiar voice, turning her head to the left she noticed Tootega sitting and grinning like the mad woman she was. "Cars?" She added. "You are doing good, what a beautiful body you've had all along. What a pretty face." She said to Sakari, the girl sighed and rolled her eyes instinctively. "Now, you will learn their ways. You will speak their language and you will be one of them, at least until your time is up." She explained, Sakari opened her mouth but couldn't find the words to ask. She wanted to ask her how she could change back, but the words didn't form in her head.

"Sakari? We're here." Karen said as she opened her door for her, she looked around and noticed the same hard black covering on the ground, known as concrete black top to others. There were cars all around in the parking lot, each different colours and shapes. She exited the vehicle and noticed the large building, it was huge, in both area and height. It was covered in windows and was painted a dull white, people were all around and either entering or exiting the hospital.

They walked towards the immense building and Sakari noticed the writing on the front side, above the door. She couldn't read herself, but to anyone else it said, 'Maxville Regional Hospital'. They passed a man in a wheel chair who was perched on the curb on the way in, he had a cigarette between his lips and Sakari couldn't help but widen her eyes at the smoke exhaling from his lungs. It was a really crazy world outside of the forest.

They entered the hospital and Sakari couldn't help but curiously look around, she noticed all the people walking around doing things and people speaking so quickly, the floor was so shiny she could almost see her reflection and the lights on the ceiling were almost as bright as the moonlight she loved so much.

Lilian pressed a button on the wall and doors slide open revealing a small boxed area inside, the lights were a bright shade of yellow and carpeting was on the floor, they walked inside and Lilian pressed a whole bunch of buttons which lit up like stars. She finally pressed a last button which seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"State your name and power." A mysterious voice said, Sakari looked around wide eyed and took a defensive stance.

"Lilian Williams, Animal Communication Ability." She replied to the voice, the light above the elevator doors suddenly flashed a bright green colour and the elevator started moving upwards rapidly. Sakari, scared out of her mind, pressed her back against the wall in the corner and hooked herself onto the handle on the side, showing her sharp teeth and growling.

"Honey, it's okay. You're going to be okay, it's an elevator." Karen explained as she tried to calm the girl down, they finally came to a stop and the elevator dinged when the doors opened.

Compared to the lower half of the hospital, this new mysterious world was strange. Most of the walls were white and the ones that weren't were made of glass, the lights were brighter and the people were stranger, she noticed how different it smelled. They walked up to a big white desk in the middle of the large room, there was a lady with bright red hair, she had her fingersgliding through the air as she used a holographic computer.

"Maxville Regional Hospital, Super Division." The lady said smiling at the three women, Sakari's eye widened at the lights in the air behind the desk, they looked just like the lights in the sky every winter. She reached out to grab one but Karen held her back, apologizing to the receptionist

"We need to see Doctor Law immediately." Lilian said to her.

"Do you have an appointment?" She asked.

"No and I don't need one, he's a family friend so tell him Lilian Williams said it's an emergency." Lilian said calmly, she was a very sweet confident woman and Sakari started to look at her as a very Maternal and Responsible person. The woman pressed a light and started talking into her bluetooth, Sakari just thought she was crazy and talking of herself.

"You may go in, he's in room 507." She said kindly, Lilian nodded and they followed her to said room. It was bigger than most, but notably smaller than the main lobby they were just in. Sakari looked around and noticed the hospital bed, the desk with different instruments on it, a wall with mechanical devices and the window. She walked towards the window and looked out, they were hundreds of feet in the air, almost like a skyscraper. The building from the outside didn't look as nearly as high, but up where she was you couldn't even clearly see the ground.

"Ah, Lilian." Someone opened the door and she turned to the aged man, he had white hair and wrinkled, tan skin. He had a pair of thick glasses on the bridge of this nose and a white lab coat on, his stethoscope around his neck and a clipboard in his hands. The two had a friendly hug and turned to look at Sakari after sharing some brief words.

"Hello dear, my name is Martin Law." He introduced himself.

"Like I said, I woke up this morning and viola! She's human?" Karen explained from behind them.

"That is rather odd, we'll we will see once we get a blood sample what her DNA matched to and maybe then we can figure out what's going on with this young girl. For now, let's see how healthy you are." He said motioning for Sakari to sit on the white bed, Karen helped her sit on it.

"Now, can you speak? What's your name?" He asked.

"Sakari Quanok." She replied to the familiar question, he nodded and smiled.

"Well Sakari, do you know how old you are?"

"Teenager." She repeated what Karen said before.

"I called her a teenager earlier and she's really good at repeating things." Karen added.

"Where are you from?" He asked, Lilian spoke up.

"Quanok sounds like an Inuit word, I've been to Northern Canada before and I'm sure I've heard that word." Lilian explained, the doctor nodded as he checked her pupils and then her ears. He managed to get Sakari to open her mouth and checked inside, noticing the different shape of some of her teeth.

"Well, she seems to have 20/20 vision, normal for us. Uhm, her hearing seems to be better than most but I'm not sure how much, I'm starting to assume she has very feline like senses, a great sense of balance, enhanced speed, strength and stealth." He explained.

"You could tell all that by checking her throat and ears?" Karen asked.

"No, it's a part of my power. It's similar to empathy and I can sense her different powers right now, I can't put a name to them but that's what I feel." He replied still looking at the girl.

He picked up a needle and opened it from the package, he pulled an elastic strip out of the drawer on the desk and tied it around Sakari's right arm, he flipped it over so the inside of her elbow was showing.

"Careful, she's a little jumpy." Karen warned, the girl didn't look nervous at all. She just seemed curious and calm, so he slowly lowered the needle to her arm and gently put it through her skin, she didn't even flinch until she saw the blood drain out. She thought he was going to hurt her, he was taking blood out of her and that's what the tribe said Demons do.

She ripped her arm away from him and snarled loudly, she could feel bones cracking and her vision get worse as a very electric feeling passed through her body, the clothes she had on ripped and the familiar feel of fur covering her body back once again. The Doctor looked at the girl wide-eyed and terrified. Sakari, once again was the large beast, her ice blue eyes contrasting against the snow white fur with dark black stripes. She was bigger than the hospital bed behind her.

She postitioned herself to pounce but stood her ground, the doctor with the needle full of blood still in his hand pressed the button on the wall.

"Sakari, calm down. He's just trying to help, we're not going to hurt you." Karen said trying to calm the animal down, Sakari let out another snarl that sounded like a low hiss. Seconds later, the door flew open and those same sharp things from before poked into her skin. She jumped over the people and through the door, she was't about to go through the same thing as last time. She wasn't going to let them beat her and then momentarily kill her, she wouldn't let them hurt her people. So Sakari ran, she an through the white lobby and tried to find a way out.

There were people screaming about her and guards chasing after her, Karen yelling at them to not hurt her. Sakari noticed the elevator as she ran, they were right there waiting for her. She was just so tired, her body slacking as she ran. She felt another dart pierce her kneck as she ran, she was so close.

_*Thump*_

Her whole body flattened against the glass door, her face squishing against it. She forgot about the glass stuff, the same as the window in the car. You couldn't go through it no matter how much it looked like you could.

* * *

When her eyes fluttered open she noticed three things, she was in a white room with medical instruments and other larger objects around her, two she was wearing a pale blue robe and three she was still human. It was really starting to annoy her, she didn't want to be human, she was never human before so why now?

She noticed Tootega in the room, standing infront of the large window. A slight smile gracing her aged face and her thick hood down revealing her long white braids. "Strange world, is it not?" She asked watching the clouds form outside. "Being human is harder than it looks." She stated, Sakari opened her mouth to speak as she tried to form the words together.

"Wuh...um.. Am... Why am I?" She managed to ask, was it some sort of voodoo? Magic? Demons?.

"You're getting good at that." She touched the glass. "Why? Why do birds fly? Why do wolves howl? All questions you need to answer for yourself."

"You're awake." Sakari looked over as Karen entered the hospital room. She then looked back over at Tootega who had a habit of leaving, which she did again.

Karen walked closer and sat on the edge of the bed. "I was talking to the doctor," she started, the girl just looked at her with her big blues eyes, not really understanding what she was saying. "He said that your DNA is 83% pure tiger but the rest is human. He said it's the first time in his studies that he ever heard of an animal with super abilities." She explained.

"Look, I've never been a mother but I'd really think it would be great if you came home with me?" Karen smiled, Sakari gave her a blank look. "I can teach you to talk and write, you'll learn everything I know." She added.

"Everything I know." Sakari repeated with a matching grin by copying Karen's facial expression.

"The doctor said eventually you'll be able to control your shifting, so for now we're going to stay in the summer home. Only because you'll be able to exercise in the woods and stuff." Karen explained.

* * *

"I could only get this meat off the butcher, it's the best he could do." Karen said taking about the hundreds of pounds of meat Sakari was carrying as they exited the car. "Maybe you'll like human food too." Karen said more to herself as she unlocked the door to the cabin.

"Human food?" Sakari asked.

"Yeah, food humans eat." She replied before she noticed her boyfriend's shoes in the porch. "Hun?" She called.

"Lilian called me and told me to meet you here." The male voice said from the kitchen, the man entered the foyer. He was tall, with medium brown, short hair and dark blue eyes, his face unshaven. "Who's this?" He asked, motioning to Sakari.

"Mark, remember when I told you I was going to protest at that traveling animal zoo?" Karen asked and he nodded, she then started telling him everything that happened all day. He stared at her wide-eyed.

"So you're trying to tell me, that this girl is actually a tiger?" He said, thinking she was crazy.

Sakari was sitting on the couch and trying to chew on the television remote, still in the conversation with Mark she grabbed the remote and turned on the television for the girl.

"Yeah..." Karen bit her lip.

Sakari walked up to it mesmerized, she reached out slowly preparing to touch it. She flinched back when her fingers touched the glass, the Swiffer Sweeper commercial changing to a car commercial.

"I... Animals don't have powers." He said folding his arms. "Why can't you just take her back to the zoo?"

"They'll kill her! She was half dead when I found her, she's just a girl! They're going to experiment on her." She placed her hands on her hips.

"So what? You're just going to raise a teenage WereTiger?" He raised his voice.

Sakari watched the television with wide-eyes. She reached out again to touch it as an old Friends episode came on.

"Well where else is she going to go?" She yelled at him.

"I don't know, she was found in the wild, put her back in the wild!" He shouted.

"HOW YOU DOIN!" Sakari mimicked Joey's voice, they both looked at her and cracked smiles.

"She likes repeating things. I want to teach her things, I want her to know our ways." Karen explained.

"Babe, we can't have a kid. A teenager for goodness sake, a girl teenager, plus she's a wild animal." He sighed as he scratched the back of his neck.

"You don't have to worry about anything! I will be her teacher, Ill be like a mother to her. You know I always wanted a daughter." She looked at the ground sadly, her and her boyfriend were never able to conceive a child. They adopted once, a little baby girl from Thailand. The parents ended up taking her back.

He sighed and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her chin up and smiling slightly. "KareBear, you know I want one too, but this is different. She isn't a child, this is a wild beast and I'm not just talking about the teenage part." He laughed, causing her to chuckle.

"THREE TEN THIRTY THIRTY, GREICO!" Sakari yelled with a grin on her pretty face, the two adults laughed at her.

"So can we keep her?" Karen pouted and gave him puppy dog eyes.

"As long as she's potty trained." He grinned, she squealed and kissed him, then squeezed him into a hug.

"I'll have to teach her first." She said looking over at the girl who was munching on a large hunk of raw meat, which covered her chin and fingers.

"She is a tiger, wow." Mark said watching her scarf down the cow leg like a chicken drumstick.

* * *

**A/N: sorry this chapter was so short, next one will be up in about a week. I'm going to try my hardest to make updates weekly.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: The reason this chapter was so late is because there was a death in the family, I'm very sorry for making you all wait so long for this, but I tried writing it a few weeks back and I wasn't in a good frame of mind to be doing it. So it took some time and I finally got up to it, this and the next chapter are finished. My Grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer and passed way in December. Ive taken most of January off of school and I've been spending the past week getting caught up. She l****oved the fact that I wanted to be a writer, she's the reason I'll continue. I'm dedicating the wise and sweet character of Tootega to her, that's who she reminded me of.**

**Btw just to let you know, Sakari is pronounced Sa-Car-Ee and Quanok is Kew-Eh-Nock**

* * *

_Chapter 3_

"You use this to clean your teeth." Karen said holding up her toothbrush. Her and Sakari were standing infront of the bathroom mirror, each with a toothbrush in hand. Karen squeezed a pea sized amount of toothpaste on her toothbrush and stuck it in her mouth. Sakari loked at her wide eyed when she started brushing her teeth.

"Why?" The curious girl asked, it always seemed to be her favorite question. Why does that work, why does that do that?

"To keep your teeth clean and healthy, if you don't have healthy teeth then they will fall out." Karen replied as she squeezed toothpaste on Sakari's toothbrush and handed it back to her. The white haired girl sniffed and looked at it strange before sticking it her mouth. Karen motioned brushing and Sakari started doing it right.

"Taste like winter." Sakari smiled, she had toothpaste foaming down her mouth and looked like a rabid dog.

"It's mint flavor." Karen explained.

"Mint..." She grabbed the toothpaste and started squeezing it into her mouth, swallowing all of the it.

"Sakari! Don't!"

* * *

Mark tried not to laugh as he watched his girlfriend teach the teenager how to put on shoes correctly. They were sitting in the living room of the bungalow and had a bunch of shoes and boots out in the middle of the floor.

"No, they're on the wrong foot, hun." Karen sighed for the millionth time. "Here, now try. Comfy right?" She readjusted the shoes on the girl's feet. Sakari smiled and nodded her head. "Now try to tie them, look..." She showed her how she ties her own shoes and Sakari attempted it herself but made knots. "Watch me, make a loop. Then the bunny goes through here. There you go. You got it." Karen smiled, finally successful. "Now try the other one."

"No, shoes." Sakari was impatient and pulled both shoes off and chucked them towards Mark, he laughed and shook his head.

* * *

"Now the shower is for cleaning, here is how you turn it on." Karen turned the tap and the shower head started spouting water. Sakari moved forward with curious eyes, she put her hand in the water and smiled. "Rain, inside rain!" She exclaimed.

"You clean youself in the shower, you get in and use soap and shampoo and stuff." Karen tried to explain but the girl was running her hands under the water, as a tiger she always loved swimming when it was warm enough, "Swim?. Sakari asked.

"No, clean youself. You wash in here."

"Oh, I try?" She asked.

Karen started to explain how you take off your clothes, shampoo your hair and then condition. She explained how the settings of heat work and how to use body wash. Sakari just nodded until Karen handed her a towel or two and left the room. Sakari looked at the shower and smiled.

A half hour later Karen noted Sakari was still not out yet, worriedly she wanted to rush in there and see if the girl was okay but she remembered that Sakari was still not used to the shower. She gave her ten more minutes and then opened the bathroom door, she sighed deeply when she seen a large white tiger passed out on her back with her belly in the air and the tub filled with water.

* * *

Sakari wiggled her behind as she readied herself to pounce, the air was crisp and warm. The sun shone through the leaves at the tops of the trees and into the woodland forest below. She landed not as gracefully as usual and blamed it on her incapable human body, she couldn't figure out how to turn it off before she went outside to chase animals.

Sakari wasn't hungry after the large amounts of raw meat she had hidden in her flat human stomach so hunting to kill wasn't the objective.

She let out a pathetic roar and the flock of birds she meant to terrify just flew away not as spooked as she would've liked. She sighed and sat on what she referred to as 'the cushion on her back' and rubbed her shoulder off of the tree, the bark scratching graciously at her itch.

Sakari couldn't hear the usual rumble of a purr in her chest and stopped scratching, she yawned very cat-like and stretched by leaning low on her arms and raising her but into the air. When Sakari sat back down she looked at the long fur hanging from her head and used her pointer and middle finger to feel it. It was soft and silky, a slight beach wave to the stark white hair, she crossed her eyes and looked up towards her forehead and picked at the one strip of black.

Humans looked so funny, like small and naked, flat faced bears. She snorted at the thought and then stopped herself after making such a weird sound.

"Hey, I thought you might have tried to run away." Karen said smiling kindly at Sakari as she stepped over a fallen tree. "I thought it would be nice to learn some more words, I got this book on trying to teach your kids to speak. It said constantly speaking to them and letting them listen to English will stimulate..." She went on and on, Sakari just watched the butterfly pass by.

"Orange, the bird is orange." Sakari said pointing to the fluttering insect.

"Butterfly, the butterfly is orange. It isn't a bird." Karen corrected with a warm smile, the girl learned so quickly.

"Not a bird, butterfly." Sakari said quietly, spooking Karen she jumped up and ran full speed at the butterfly.

She ran and pawed at it, she was quick but the large winged bug was swifter. Sakari finally stopped as it landed on a tree branch.

"Co**sucker." (Pardon the language).

Karen's eyes widened. "Where! Did you hear that!" She almost yelled.

"The Padres lost, no thanks to the jackass pitcher, damn co**sucker." She repeated what she heard Mark say as he watched television with people hitting flying things with little trees.

"I'm going to have a talk with that man when he gets home. Don't say that! Bad! Very bad word!" Karen scolded as Sakari stood at her full height of 5ft 7inches.

"You should really be wearing shoes." Karen said looking down at Sakari's bare feet as they walked back towards the cabin.

"No shoes," Sakari said watching a bird fly onto a tree branch.

"Lilian was talking to a shapeshifter she knows and she said that you'll get control soon of switching back and forth, so maybe when you do you can move in with Mark and I." Karen said with a hopeful grin.

"Harry Potter gave Dobby a sock! Dobby's a free elf now!" She repeated from the movie she watched earlier.

Karen sighed, she wanted the girl to understand. She wanted to be able to have conversations with her and do what normal people do, but she knew she had to be patient, Sakari was still a wild creature.

"Let's go back into the house, I picked up a pizza on the way here." Karen explained as they entered the kitchen, Sakari sniffed the room.

It smelled weird, not like anything she was used to. It was a warm smell, spices and some meat, it was fresh and made her mouth water.

Karen opened the box to reveal the half meat lovers pizza and the other Hawaiian style.

Sakari could smell the delicious new scent and her mouth watered for the meat, not even getting the chance to lunge for the food Karen handed her a slice. Sakari messily shoved it into her mouth and moaned when she tasted the cooked meat, cheese and sauce all together.

"Pizza, this food is called pizza."

"Pizza is toad." Sakari grinned, cheese and sauce dripping from her face as she scarfed down another slice.

"You mean pizza is good?" Karen corrected with a loving smile.

She was surprised how quickly Sakari grew on her, it was just a few days and the white haired were-cat had her wrapped around her finger, or paw. Sakari learned so many knew things, how to pronounce certain words and she learned adjectives. Her favorite thing to do was watch television, specifically Friends.

She loved sitting at the window when the sun was high in the sky, she would rub her face with her hands and then curl up and sleep.

Sakari also loved chasing things, playing was on of her favorites. She learned about the fridge and the oven, mainly referring to them as the "Boxes of Winter and Summer", she marveled over the coffee machine and the toaster.

Karen even got used to a giant jungle cat walking casually through the house, since Sakari couldn't control her shifting it wasn't an uncommon sight.

"So when you click this, using the mouse you can go onto the internet." Karen said as she leaned over her shoulder and guided her hand on the mouse.

"Internet..."

"Yeah, the web." Karen said as Sakari watched the computer screen with a flabbergasted face.

"Spider."

"No, not spider web. Look, this is called Youtube." Karen explained, Sakari just watched the leaves bristle against the wind through the window.

"Maybe some other time, for now I have something for you to try." Karen explained pulling out a pile of books. "You'll need to know how to read, so I was thinking I would teach you. Let's start with the alphabet." She picked up the book for toddlers and handed it to Sakari.

"The alphabet starts with A,"

"A,"

"That's right, then B. B looks like this, and a word that starts with B is Butter, or Boot." Karen explained.

After hours of learning and the restless girl half hazardly falling asleep on the table, (one of the many places she'd lay to rest) Karen decided to turn on a movie and give Sakari some food.

Karen was seated on the couch and Sakari was cross legged on the floor facing close to the TV.

"KAREN!" You could hear Lillian yell as she entered the bungalow.

"Yeah?" Karen asked.

"Just wanted to see if you were here." She replied as she entered the living room and sat down next to her sister.

"Hey Aunt Karen," A pretty girl with clear pale skin, long red hair and clothed in urban style hippy clothes said with a kind smile as she came in.

"Oh hey Layla, you haven't met Sakari yet have you?" Karen asked gesturing to the white haired girl paying no attention to anyone but the TV.

"No, I haven't but mom told me what happened and it sounds interesting and different." Layla said looking at Sakari.

"Sakari," the girl looked up at Karen, the light from the Tv beaming off of her pretty face. "This is Layla, Lilian's daughter and my niece."

"My name is Sakari," she smiled at the young red head.

"It's so nice to meet you," Layla said politely.

"Meat?" Sakari looked confused.

"No, meet is a different word. Its when people see eachother for the first time, they meet. Not meat as in ham or chicken." Karen explained.

"Oh, its so nice to chicken you." The white haired girl with an innocent smile causing the girls to laugh.

"Mmmm," Sakari pointed to the television with wide eyes and a smile.

"Yeah... That my friend is God's gift to women, Channing Tatum." Karen explained grinning.

"Tatum is pretty." Sakari stared at the handsome man on t.v.

"Yes he is. Alright hun, we need to go visit the doctor in about a half an hour. Are your teeth brushed?"

"Yes," Sakari smiled a bright smile, showing her clean, straight teeth.

"Good, are you ready?" Karen asked as she threw her bag over her shoulder.

"I'm ready."

"We'll be back," Karen said to the two others.

* * *

"No sweetheart, you can't touch random people." Karen said gently as she pulled Sakari's hand away from a strange teenaged girl with purple hair.

The cat girl was amazed by the bright colour and took the opportunity to frighten the purple haired girl by running her fingers through her fringed bangs.

"Why?" Sakari asked.

"Because it makes them feel uncomfortable, you don't touch people you don't know." Karen explained.

"Oh, okay."

"Now let's get in and see Dr. Law." Karen pressed the button to the elevator, after a few weeks the Super clinic became accustomed to the woman and her foster daughter. They allowed her entry even though she sustained no powers, she wasn't looked at as a threat.

Sakari smiled as the small room shot up through the elevator shaft, she liked the feeling of the pull as they went

Karen checked her phone and noticed a few unread messages. "Mark wants to know what we want for supper tonight. What do you want, Sakari?" She asked the girl.

"The cold, brrrr... Uhm, milk... No," Sakari tried to remember the word by making hand movements like charades.

"Is it a U? A cup? Bowl? A bowl? Hmmm..." Karen guessed.

"Yummy, uhmmm. Cold, snow... Ice... Yes! Ice milk?"

"Oh! Ice cream? No we can't have ice cream for supper, that's more like a dessert." Karen explained.

"Dessert?"

"Its usually a sweet little treat you have on a special occasion after supper." Karen explained

"Karen, what is school?"

Karen looked at the pretty girl and gave her a calm smile. "School? Well its where people go to learn."

"Learn about what?" Sakari asked.

"Many different things, math, science, languages. Stuff like that." Karen said as they stepped off the elevator.

"You learn me stuff too."

"I teach you, teach." Karen corrected her as they were told to wait in the doctor's office.

"You teach me stuff, then why are you not a school?" She asked as she sat down on the hospital bed, dangling her legs in circles. Karen smiled and chuckled at Sakari's curious big blue eyes.

"A school is a place, people cannot be a school. You go there to learn, its a building." She explained.

"Okay,"

"Good afternoon ladies," Dr. Law said entering the room.

"Hello," Karen greeted.

"Hi Doctor, how are you." Sakari said with a huge smile. Dr. Law grinned, the girl was always smiling and in a happy mood.

"I'm wonderful, how are you?" He asked, impressed at her new talents.

"Wonderful... Is that a good word?" She asked.

"Yes it is," Karen said smiling.

"Then I am wonderful too." Sakari said with a grin on her pretty face.

"Wow, it is amazing how you're learning so quickly." The Doctor said as he placed his clipboard on the desk next to the bed and sat in his computer chair.

"How is it that she can just learn all new stuff so late in her life?" Karen asked as the teenaged girl watched the clouds through the window.

"Well when we did a CT scan on her brain we noticed a few things, many were like the average tiger, many like the human and specifically some were enhanced." He explained.

"Enhanced?" Karen furrowed her eyebrows.

"Yes, well when she's in tiger form her mind still thinks like a human. She still has the ability to understand us and what's going on around us. Early on in her life she did not get to strengthen the part of her brain that speaks and learns, she survived on instinct. Now that part of her brain is being used so often it seems to be soaking up information like a sponge." He tried to explain it to Karen, it was all very difficult to put into simpler words but he found himself successful when she nodded in understanding.

"So you're telling me that even though she was a tiger her whole life, she always thought like a human?" Karen asked.

"Yes, and now that she's interacting and practicing with humans she's awakening parts of her brain never used before. Therefore, she's learning at an incredible rate." He said with a smile, this was an true amazing phenomenon. "Its been two and a half weeks and she already knows about half of the English language, that's fast for anyone. Especially someone who hasn't spoken at all. It takes years to learn a new language." He added.

"Also she seems to be getting better at controlling her shifting."

"Why is that?" Karen asked.

"Well I'm assuming it its because she's getting comfortable with being human, when she first discovered this form she was confused and over stressed."

Sakari tuned out their whole conversation, she smiled as the sun shone through the window and onto her face. She liked the holes in the walls, what were they called? Windows.

'I like windows.' She thought to herself.

'I like windows too.' Sakari could see the old lady's reflection in the window replacing her own. 'You're doing so well child, learn their ways, love what they do and then make your decision. You're not alone in this,' Tootega smiled, her dark brown eyes glistening in the sunlight. The old lady placed her wrinkled, tanned hand onto the glass. Sakari did the same and smiled, she never did talk back to the woman, she liked to listen to her... Sometimes.

"Sakari," Karen said catching the Weretiger's attention. When she turned to face the window again Tootega was gone and her hand was sole against the glass. "Are you ready to go home?" Karen asked.

"Yes." She replied as they started walking out the door. "Goodbye doctor,"

"Goodbye Sakari, see you next week." Dr. Law said with a friendly smile.

"Okay," she said walking towards the elevator.

*Find me in my field of grass, Mother Nature's son. Swaying daises sing a lazy song beneath the sun. Doo doo doo doo!* The Beatles played loudly and Karen pulled out her cell phone.

"Hello? Oh hey Papa."

"PAPA DONT PREACH! I'M IN TROUBLE DEEP!" Sakari spontaneously started singing Madonna.

"I have to stop letting you watch Mtv at night." Karen sighed before starting to converse with her grandfather.

"I'm keepin mah baayybeeehh." She added in more of a whisper careful not to get Karen mad.

"Alright, well my parents want to meet you and since mother and I haven't spoken in quite a while she got Papa to call me." Karen sighed, she always had a difficult relationship with her parents. Coming from a very wealthy family, she was raised in an elegant home with snobby and uptight parents. They didn't like the fact that their daughters were borderline hippies and loved the earth and animals.

"Your mother and father?" Sakari asked.

"Yeah,"

"Do I have a mother and father?" She asked.

As they walked out to the car Sakari watched Karen, hoping for a response. Honestly, the strawberry blonde activist didn't know what to say. "We all have parents,"

"Where are mine?"

"I don't know sweetie, I really don't know. What do you remember about your past?" Karen asked as they got in the car.

"I remember the tribe that raised me, they were human. That is it." She replied.

* * *

"Hey Sakari, I was thinking we'd have a little girl time. Would you like to sleep over? My friend Magenta will be there too." Layla said to Sakari over the phone.

"What am I going to sleep over? I slept over a stair railing last week, it hurt." Sakari said confusedly.

"Ahaha, nothing. A sleepover is when friends sleep over eachother's houses. So you and Magenta will come over to my house and spend the night. We'll do girl things and watch movies and stuff." She explained.

"I like movies." Sakari said with a smile.

Karen entered the kitchen and eyed Sakari on the phone as she went to the fridge. "Who are you talking to?" Karen asked as she poured herself a cup of orange juice. "Layla," Sakari replied as she listened to Layla talk about a save the forest documentary.

"Layla is having a sleepover, apparently you sleep on her house." Sakari smiled at Karen.

"You mean at her house?"

"Yes, can I go?" Sakari asked, her big ice blue eyes pleading with her.

"Oh I don't know, what if something happens. You can't even control your shifting completely, what if you go tiger on the mailman again?" Karen asked, she really just didn't want Sakari to get hurt or hurt someone.

"The mailman just wants to play, that's why he runs." Sakari said innocently.

Karen poured more orange juice as she went over the pros and cons of letting her go.

Pros

-She would have alone time with Mark. -She would make more friends. -Layla will teach her teenaged girl things of today.

Cons

-Sakari would go out and get seen as a tiger. -She'd get scared or angry and hurt someone. ... But Lilian would be there and nothing should happen, she trusted her sister.

"Ask Layla to put Lilian on the phone." Karen said and Sakari nodded before handing the phone over the Karen. "Are you going to be there all night?" She asked her.

"Yes, I won't let anything happen to her. The girls won't even leave the house, I promise." Lilian replied.

"You have a lot of pets though, I don't know how Sakari is around pets." Karen pointed out.

"Well I'll tell them to stay clear of her until she gets used to them, so don't worry a thing. Have a candle lit diner, go see a movie and enjoy your alone time with Mark. You've been working so hard this last month with Sakari and you need a break."

"You're right. Alright, she can go." Karen sighed.

"YAY!" Sakari called out excitedly.

* * *

A/N: sorry this was so short, but its more of a filler chapter. I'm not getting into Sky High right away, Sakari needs to learn how to be human before doing what we do. So the next chapter will be the sleepover and maybe I might introduce some more characters, don't worry Warren is coming soon!

Btw anyone hear the new Fall Out Boy, so awesome :)


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